Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3570 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-06-26
• Format: NTSC

Customer Reviews

Shooter doesn't run out of ammo
I had mild expectations before watching "Shooter." I didn't read the book on which it's based and had no idea of the premise. Wahlberg was great in "The Departed" so I was at least looking forward to seeing another one of his performances which turned out to be also great. Mark Walberg plays the betrayed soldier Swagger aka Shooter who lives a Ruby Ridge like isolated existence against the stunningly beautiful backdrop of forested mountain country. Sometimes this makes wonder is that the only way Americans can seek beauty, virtue, spiritual healing? By fleeing to the wilderness? But the Government institutions that screwed him once come back to exploit his love of country and heritage a second time. They want a Lee Harvey Oswald patsy like that portrayed in Oliver Stone's "JFK" An Ethiopian politician is about to speak the embarrassing truth about the role of Big Oil and US Intelligence in killing off the villagers unfortunate enough to be protesting about their displacement for a pipe line installation. This isn't "Commando" - This is real life as we live it in the twenty-first century.

I think the most sobering moment in the film is the depiction of Shooter (with some assistance from a disaffected FBI agent) killing off a platoon of his own country's soldiers. A patriot taking up arms against his own countrymen. Another disturbing aspect is the degradation in which his countrymen live. Kate Mara has been criticized for her performance as his dead spotter's widow. I fail to see its defects. She is no less a cipher than the arms expert whose knowledge Swagger seeks out in his quest to discover what is going on at the rotten core of his country's government.

It seems that all the characters live in conditions of near squalor. Even the inhabitants of the big cities. Philadelphia has a grimy, unkempt look, crying out for a coat of new paint. It brings to mind that Talking Heads song, "I Wouldn't Live There If You Paid Me". And they all mumble so incoherently that the provision of subtitles would have been a boon to the viewer. All except the "front men" like Ned Beatty's senator - but then he is no more substantial a character than the sum of his lying words.

I have heard criticism of the film's climax. Maybe Swagger is more clever than Lee Harvey Oswald, but it is that culmination that injects some element of hope into the nightmare that has been portrayed up on the screen for two absorbing and stimulating hours.

I've seen "Half Nelson" months ago. In that film an intelligent, articulate, widely read teacher gives up the struggle and reduces his own existence to that of a drug filled haze. At least "Shooter" seeks a way to reform the system, even if it is the clichéd route of the old western heroes. When do we get an American hero who can take on the evil system without resort to bloodshed, and win. It does not have to Luke Skywalker. Let's have another Jim Garrison (from "JFK"), using words instead of bullets. And let him triumph this time. This film really got to me. It altered my mood for some time. It is more than just another action flick it's serious and efficient film. Must see for those who are interested.

high octane action,suspense and intrigue (4.5/5)
this is a great movie.the action is through the roof.Mark Wahlberg is
fantastic in the title role.you won't be bored for a minute with this
film.but it's not just action.there's also some intrigue and
suspense.Antoine Fuqua(Training Day)directed this movie and Jonathan
Lemkin wrote the screenplay.he also wrote the story for Lethal Weapon
4.the movie is based on novel By Stephen Hunter called Point of
Impact.anyway,this movie is entertaining from the get go.there is some
graphic violence and coarse language,so if that's not your thing,you
might want avoid this movie.anyway,in my opinion,this movie is
entertaining from the get go.for me,Shooter is a 4.5/5

action, lots of it
After his unit leaves him and his best friend Donnie, to die in Ethiopia, former military sniper Bob Lee Swagger (Mark Wahlberg) goes in exile in the Rockies. Three years later, he gets coaxed back into action by Colonel Isaac Johnson (Danny Glover) who requests that he finds a way to plan the President's assassination in one of three cities.
In the end, Bob Lee is double-crossed and framed for the attempt. Soon he becomes a fugitive trying to prove his innocence.
Naive cop Nick Memphis (Michael Peña) just "knows" Bob Lee's not responsible for the events. Even though he's on the verge of getting fired, he still wants to help Bob Lee as much as possible.
Together they will find the truth.

Wahlberg shows signs of good acting.
I felt that Danny Glover spoke like Daffy Duck, it was hard to understand him at times.
Peña is excellent as the naive police officer.

The shots with heads and arms flying all over are well made and impressive.

The script is believable. Bob Lee obviously has no respect for the government, and it is even more apparent when he realizes he's been set up. Even better, Bob Lee was trained to kill, but also how remove weapons from people's hands in order to survive.

An engaging, enjoyable movie with a lot of action.